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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26269450">Better Than The Dream</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookieDoughMe/pseuds/CookieDoughMe'>CookieDoughMe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Ways We Fit Together [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haven (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Audrey takes control, Established Relationship, F/M, Fantasies acted out, M/M, Multi, Nathan and Touch, Nathan and his Dream, Porn with minimal Plot, Spanking, This was much harder to write than I thought it would be, Threegulls but the focus is on Nathan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:22:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,399</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26269450</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookieDoughMe/pseuds/CookieDoughMe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This follows loosely on from <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23715973">The Goddess Among Us</a>, in which Nathan considers how and when and whether to tell his lovers about that dream of his from canon.<br/>~<br/>In the end, Nathan’s indecision about how and when to talk to his lovers about That Dream was resolved for him, when they noticed him dreaming it again.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Duke Crocker/Audrey Parker/Nathan Wuornos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Ways We Fit Together [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1908601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>In the end, Nathan’s indecision about how and when to talk to his lovers about That Dream was resolved for him, when they noticed him dreaming it again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For him it was always the same; each of the half dozen times it had happened, it started and ended in exactly the same way, with only a couple of minor differences here and there along the way. This time was no exception; he was in the empty station and he was naked, and neither of these facts seemed particularly surprising but then it wasn’t really the station at all, it was a classroom, he was late for a test he hadn’t studied for, and a woman who both was and was not Audrey was asking him some question or another that he either didn’t know how to answer or just simply didn’t understand. Then there was the strike of the ruler against his hand; a bright flash of sensation harsh enough to surprise him even once his Trouble was long gone. And then he was being told to stand and turn around, complying through his confusion, impatient even through his nervousness for what he knew was coming next, the ruler suddenly replaced by a much bigger wooden paddle. There was a moment of waiting, always a long moment of waiting during which he wondered what she was doing (Was she changing her mind about him? Did she not like what she saw?). Sometimes he thought he felt the paddle before it hit, but then out of nowhere it did; sensation harsh and bright and overwhelming, coursing through him like lightning, so sudden that it woke him and he would find himself sat up in bed, gasping, self-conscious and aroused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time the dream was the same as all the others, but when he woke, it wasn't his bed he sat up in, but the sofa in the apartment above the Gull. He blinked at his feet for a moment, gradually remembering he'd stretched out on it for an afternoon rest after a week of taking the graveyard shift. He hadn't intended to sleep because Audrey would be leaving for her shift before too long, and Duke was working this evening too. He looked around suddenly wondering what time it was and if they had gone already, leaving him to his rest. What he found was the two of them standing in front of the sofa grinning knowingly at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That sounded like quite the dream,” Audrey said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I …. Well,” Nathan stuttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Outrageous you were having such fun without us,” said Duke affectionately.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know about that, I was quite enjoying watching. Besides, maybe we were in the dream with him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan rubbed his face, unsure how to respond.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sorry," said Audrey. "I didn't mean to tease. You obviously don't have to tell us."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Though we are here to listen if you want to," Duke offered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan swung his legs around to sit on the sofa instead of lying across it, trying to collect his thoughts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey took his silence for reluctance and started to step away. "We'll leave you to …"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No," he stopped her, reaching out to take her hand. He looked to Duke and put his hand on the sofa next to him in an invitation to sit, and they did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Was in the station but it wasn’t really the station,” he began. “More like a … classroom.” He left a pause to see what reaction he would get.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, nothing wrong with a naughty schoolboy fantasy Nate,” Duke assured him. “I’ve had stranger dreams than that, trust me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like what?” Nathan asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke considered for a moment, as though he had an extensive selection to choose from. “One time I dreamed I was abducted by aliens. But not your standard little-grey-men-with-probes kind of aliens, no. These aliens were little clouds of purple-ish gas, in a perfectly round spaceship with no artificial gravity, and I was floating naked in the middle of it while they used my body to further their understanding of the human pleasure response. Some of them were warm, some of them were cool, some of them tingled, some of them vibrated… you get the idea.” He shrugged at their slightly-blank looks. “Psychedelic substances may or may not have been involved,” he added, and Audrey laughed. “But the point is, brains come up with all kinds of randomness, especially in dreams. No point feeling bad about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Even if it’s doing something horrendous to someone who doesn’t deserve it, like … ” Nathan cast around for some suitably horrific example, drawn into the philosophy of it despite himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did your dream involve anything horrendous?” Duke asked him doubtfully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No but …” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did it involve anything even remotely anti-social or illegal?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” Nathan admitted after a moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then it’s all good. So, you were in the station but it wasn’t really the station, it was a classroom. Were you in uniform?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan shook his head, “No, was in … nothing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nathan Wuornos walking through the police station naked, I wouldn’t mind a dream like that,” Duke commented happily. “So what was going on in this station-classroom?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing at first. Supposed to be some test but … then there was … a teacher,” he said, deciding that exactly who the teacher had looked like might be one of the details he left out. “Asking me … something that made no sense, pointing to the blackboard but I couldn’t read it. When I didn’t give the right answer she …” he rubbed the back of his hand without thinking, “... had a ruler.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the pause after his sentence, Audrey noticed his hand. “You had this dream before?” she asked. “When the Troubles were active?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan realised how she knew - the bruise on his hand she had seen when Carrie Benson’s Trouble had gone into overdrive. At the time he had simply told her he had dreamed about school. Now she was putting the pieces together. He nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The pain turns you on? Or the punishment?” Audrey asked, sounding just slightly concerned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan frowned. “No,” he replied carefully. “It’s not painful, not really. It’s just … sensation. Bright, intense sensation. It's not … not a </span>
  <em>
    <span>bad</span>
  </em>
  <span> feeling. Not a punishment,” he assured her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I was going to guess,” offered Duke, “I’d say that what you like is not the pain or the punishment, but the sensation and the surprise; the not knowing exactly what’s coming or when, the fact that it’s someone else’s decision what you get to feel.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan stuttered around his reply. “Y-yeah g-guess so,” he admitted, sounding slightly surprised to have it explained back to him so well. Audrey’s concern about punishments melted away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What else does she do with this ruler?” Audrey asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A-after the ruler she tells me to stand and now she has something else. A ... paddle,” he said, searching for the right word. “Wooden thing,” he added, holding up his hands to show the size. “She … she tells me to turn around and put my hands on the d-desk.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke was grinning at him. “That’s when you really start to enjoy yourself,” he observed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan didn’t disagree. “There’s a pause. I’m not sure what’s coming. Then the paddle … hits my ass. Jolt of sensation. I feel it and I … </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel </span>
  </em>
  <span>it but it also wakes me up,” he finished. He suddenly realised he felt better for telling them. Lighter. “Don’t know what the second hit would feel like,” he realised.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to?” Audrey asked. “Because, you know, some fantasies are best just thought about, some talked about, some acted out. Whichever one this is it’s fine, but if you want … we could? I could….?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan hesitated, unsure how to reply.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Or, Duke could?” Audrey suggested</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan was shaking his head at that before she’d even finished the question. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think I’m the teacher in this scenario Audrey,” Duke commented. “If anyone’s wielding a paddle around here it’s going to be you. I think if anything I’d be …” Duke considered his options for a moment, then grinned with the realisation. “... the wayward kid who got Nathan in detention in the first place. It was me that broke the rules, but I sweet-talked my way out of it and left poor little innocent Nathan to take all the blame, so that now he’s getting spanked for something that wasn’t even his fault, and there is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not a single thing </span>
  </em>
  <span>he can do about it,” Duke finished in a mock whisper against Nathan’s ear, grinning at the resulting gasp from Nathan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You and that silver tongue of yours,” said Audrey.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are we still talking about my persuasive eloquence, or certain other tongue-related skills I might have to offer?” Duke asked her with a flick of his eyebrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan’s surprise sounded in a slightly strangled-sounding squeak that prompted Audrey to carry on. “If whatever you two tearaways got up to was bad enough to take a ruler to Nathan, it would surely need a multi-talented tongue to get you out of further punishment,” she replied with a grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan looked from Duke to Audrey, in dumbfounded surprise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smiled at him. “Don’t make up your mind now Nathan, but I think we could have some fun with this if you wanted to. We wouldn’t have to follow the dream exactly. We could play around with it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“L-like how?” Nathan asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a thoughtful pause before Duke suggested, “Perhaps I feel bad for getting you in detention, so while she’s setting you a task I’ve snuck back into the classroom to suck you off under the desk without teacher noticing. She’s instructed you to … I don’t know … recite your times tables or something, and if she notices you hesitate or if you get it wrong then that ruler’s coming out again. And if she realises what fun you’re having with me under the desk, well then who knows what kind of punishment she’ll come up with for you. She’s wiping down the blackboard first, better hope you come before she gets back. If I let you come at all,” he finished with a wicked grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked over at Audrey who was grinning back at him in the same fashion and then they both looked at Nathan, who pulled his lip under his teeth but didn’t reply.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Perhaps I'll decide that you need a thorough spanking before you’re going to learn anything,” Audrey suggested. “The paddle against your ass feels different the second time … and the twentieth.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wonder how the tender skin on your ass will feel when I fuck you hard against the desk while teacher’s not looking?” Duke said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh no,” Audrey interjected. “Teacher will be looking. But she might let you get away with it if you take your spanking well enough.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan closed his eyes on a moan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think he likes our ideas,” Duke said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey glanced at the time and leaned forward to dot a kiss on Nathan's cheek. "But not right now because I actually have to go."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You two should really speak to the boss about your work schedules," Duke joked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan gave him a look. "Not my fault we're short staffed. Should be back to normal in a couple weeks when the transfers've settled in."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We're coming back to this conversation another time," Audrey said firmly as she gathered up her coat and bag. "Think about what you want," she finished, and kissed them both goodbye.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan looked at the time. "Shouldn't you be at work?" he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Trying to get rid of me?" Duke joked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan frowned at him, put a hand on Duke's leg as though to keep him there, though Duke hadn't made any effort to move. "Never," Nathan assured him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke rested his hand on Nathan's. "I'm in and out,” he answered. “It's quiet so far."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You really have a dream about vibrating purple aliens?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh yeah. Vibrating, tingling, massaging, undulating, constricting … one was kinda spiky … And then there was the whole zero gravity thing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan considered this with a slight frown. "Don’t think we can recreate that but, um ... is there anything you want? Anything we could, give you?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nate, I don't need …."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not asking about need. I'm asking if there's anything you'd </span>
  <em>
    <span>like</span>
  </em>
  <span>. You're allowed to be selfish sometimes. Hardly gonna complain about your generousity, but, I might…"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Might what?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Worry. That you're missing out. That you're always giving and not taking. Are we giving enough?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke opened his mouth to speak but didn't get any further into a reply than that, apparently thrown by the question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Think about it," Nathan suggested. "You can ask us for anything."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was a week later and the detectives’ shift pattern was becoming less anti-social. Duke had given himself the day off after Tracy had asked for some extra shifts while her kids were staying with friends, and so the three of them were having a nice evening in together; food, wine, conversation, chocolate waffles for dessert. Nathan piled his fork with waffle, chocolate sauce and cream, and just as the delicious combination reached his mouth, Audrey said, “So Nathan, there was a conversation we didn’t finish.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan raised his eyebrows in surprise at her serious tone, unable to reply with his mouth full of food.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She nodded, a glint in her eye letting him know she wasn’t upset.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He frowned as he ate the mouthful of waffle. “There was?” he asked when he could speak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke rolled his eyes. “Do not tell me you’ve blanked that whole conversation about your naughty schoolboy dream.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. Yeah,” realised Nathan, looking down at his plate, self-conscious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, do you want to try it? I’ll shop for paddles if you like,” Audrey offered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Slowly, Nathan nodded his head. “If you’d like that, I think I … would.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think it could be fun,” Audrey said. “It’s probably not something I’d have thought of myself, but given your reactions so far I think I’d enjoy myself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan blushed a little at the attention. “Duke?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, you know me, I’m always up for anything,” Duke replied easily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t want to assume. Are you interested in this?” Nathan asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke looked him in the eye for a moment before grinning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I’m interested. I’m with Audrey - I’m going to enjoy anything that you react to like this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan turned a little redder, looking down at his plate again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll do some shopping tomorrow,” said Audrey. “And let you know once a suitable spanking implement arrives. What’s your safe word?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Green, Amber, Red; thought we all agreed …” Nathan began, sounding confused. Then he looked at her, “Oh, right. You’re reminding me I can use them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes. Any time, alright. It’s fine if you change your mind any time, or if it doesn’t feel right when we get there. If you like the idea but the reality feels off, we don’t have to go through with it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You too,” Nathan assured her. “Both of you.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>In her bathroom, Audrey pressed a new lipstick against her lip. The colour was a brighter red by far than anything she’d ever worn in public, but it seemed like it would fit this look. She’d retrieved a skirt from the back of the wardrobe, bought on impulse in a sale and never worn (she wasn’t really a skirt person), and a shirt bought online in haste that turned out to be too small and that she’d never got around to returning. She heard the main door open and close. “Duke?” she called through the bathroom door. “Is that you?” Hopefully it was not Nathan because he was not supposed to see this outfit until the weekend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” replied Duke. “OK?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I’ll be out in a minute. Look what arrived, on the bed,” she told him and went back to applying the unfamiliar lipstick.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke walked over to the selection of paddles lined up on the bed. The largest was black leather, padded on one side. He picked it up and poked at it, tested it against his palm. Then he grinned at the thought of the look on Nathan’s face when he saw it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey stepped out of the bathroom. "What do you think?" she asked, feeling more self conscious than she'd expected. Duke dropped the paddle back on the bed and turned to her and when he saw her he looked surprised, a little impressed maybe. "The skirt isn’t quite as short as I'd remembered," she saod, looking down to where it reached almost to her knees.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No but it's very…" Duke brought his hands in front of him, tracing the shape of her hips in the air, "... fitted."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yeah he was definitely impressed, she decided. "If anything the shirt is even smaller than I remembered," she added for no other reason than to give herself an excuse to fiddle with the top most button that would do up; the one that sat at the base of her bust, leaving plenty of cleavage on display above it. She watched Duke's gaze follow her hands and flick over her chest. "You think it'll work?" she asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nathan is going to fucking lose it," he said with feeling. "And if you take out the ruler and the paddle, I've had this dream myself," he said, stepping closer. "Only, if this were my fantasy, you’d have chosen me for a special assignment that made full use of your lack of underwear."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey watched him for a moment, taking him in. "Well," she said. "Perhaps it can be both."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They smiled at each other for a moment before Audrey spoke again. "But first there is something I actually want your help with. Which paddle to use," she pointed to the choice on the bed. "I've got to be honest I'm kind of worried about hurting him by mistake. Hurting him too much."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's why it's good to have things that are designed with this in mind," Duke suggested. He picked up the other leather paddle. It was brown leather and narrow - at a casual glance it might almost look like a wooden ruler. He tested it against his hand; the smaller surface area concentrated the force into a stronger sensation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah true. You ever use one?" Audrey asked, examining the flex in the silicone option.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke shook his head. "Not really my thing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What is?" she asked, putting the paddle down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What?" he asked, not following. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know just now, you said … but that was you engaging with Nathan's fantasy. What's yours? What do you want?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nathan asked me that," Duke said, as though slightly frustrated to be facing the same question twice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Maybe that's because it's a good question," Audrey suggested. "I'm not asking you for anything," she clarified. "Anything you don't already give I mean. I have exactly zero complaints here. I'm just checking whether there's anything I could be giving you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke frowned at her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Think about it," she suggested. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke nodded an acknowledgement. “It would be easier to hit too hard with this I think; all the force goes into a smaller area.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That makes sense, they listed the bigger one as the beginner’s option. I just couldn’t resist this for how much it looks like a ruler,” Audrey laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have the narrow one in your hand until he turns round, then switch to the bigger one,” Duke suggested. “He won’t know what’s coming.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey laughed. “See I knew you would have some good ideas,” she replied. “She tested the leather against her palm. “Is it terrible how much I love it when he gets all flustered and tongue tied?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke grinned. “I don’t know, but if it is then I am </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>terrible,” he admitted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s really going to like this huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I really think he is,” Duke agreed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think we’ll save these for another time,” Audrey decided, picking up two identical silicone paddles, somewhere between the two leather ones in size. “But the thing with silicone is it’s ‘temperature responsive’ so you can heat it up, cool it down. Add temperature into the mix; spank him with something ice cold, alternate with something warm.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah that is very … Nathan-appropriate,” Duke agreed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey grinned. “But I’m going to start with this one,” she confirmed, picking up the black leather again and testing it thoughtfully against her palm. “What’s bothering me,” she realised, “Is that if he’s facing away from me, I won’t be able to see his face. I won’t be able to tell how he’s reacting.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke considered this. “Didn’t we talk about me sneaking in under the desk? If I was there somewhere so I could see his face and you could see me, would that help?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey nodded, pleased and relieved. “Yeah, yes definitely. We’ll just need to get you in the right place at the right time. We're going to have to choreograph this out," she decided happily.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Nathan was having a pleasant and productive day. After a late breakfast of pancakes he’d run a few errands in town, then after lunch he’d stopped in at the station for a few hours to tidy up some paperwork before taking advantage of the unseasonably-warm weather to go for a swim instead of his usual run. Now he was arriving back home at his little yellow house, with plans for a cosy evening in front of a movie with Duke and Audrey. He unlocked the door, distracted by the collection of leaflets in his hand that someone had left on the bronco while he’d been swimming. He called out a hello to Duke and Audrey as he flipped through the leaflets and flyers; a whole range of campaigns and events being advertised to him, and shouldn’t he have known about some of these already? He closed the door behind him, still reading a flyer that advertised a parade through town; that kind of event needed police approval but he didn’t remember signing anything off, he’d have to check they had the paperwork next time he was in the station.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Dude!" Duke called to him from the far side of the open-plan kitchen/dining room space. He sounded impatient, like Nathan was missing something. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan looked up to where Duke was sitting on the stairs. “What?” Nathan asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke just nodded his head across into the living room. Nathan turned in that direction and his jaw dropped. The offending leaflets fluttered to the floor, forgotten, as he took in the view of Audrey and a desk, looking very much like something out of a literal dream. His precise dream in fact. He hadn’t even described the teacher he’d dreamed about; how had they known?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"There we go," muttered Duke. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nathan Wuornos. Already in detention and now late for that as well. Whatever are we going to do with you?” Audrey said. She spoke firmly, with a touch of frustration and just the barest hint of a smile curling the edge of her mouth. She sounded like an ever-so-slightly softer version of the woman in his dream.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shook his head, protesting what he wasn’t quite sure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Check the door is locked,” Audrey instructed him, pointing towards it with - was that a ruler?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His heart thudding in his chest, Nathan turned and pushed against the door, then pulled the bolt across it to make sure. All of the curtains were already drawn he noticed, no one could see in. He turned back to the room and took a cautious step forward, looking over the desk that he realised was actually a large folding table he'd last seen in use at the back of the Gull. The sofa was pushed forward from it’s usual spot to sit between the desk and Audrey, as though the desk waiting for Nathan was just one in a room of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you study for your test?” Audrey asked him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, no … I …” Nathan began helplessly. He glanced towards Duke, who was watching with one of the biggest grins Nathan had ever seen on him. Duke didn’t offer any help though. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m asking </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>Mr Wuornos. You didn’t study and you’ve arrived completely unprepared. That is not the correct outfit for my class.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan looked down at the same kind of shirt and jeans he usually wore. “It’s not?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is not,” Audrey confirmed. “You will need to leave your clothes by the door if you want to pass your test.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan took a moment to fully appreciate the scene in front of him. The outfit Audrey had pulled together (she looked gorgeous, dramatically different to usual, and surprisingly close to the version in his dream considering he hadn’t even mentioned that part of it), the furniture they had brought in and moved around, the way they were here waiting for him to surprise him. They had re-created the setting of his dream as closely as they possibly could and it warmed his heart that they had put so much time and effort into something he hadn’t even been sure he’d wanted to tell them about. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then Audrey spoke again and he was suddenly not so much aware of the blood flow to his heart as to somewhere a foot or so lower. “A decision please, Mr Wuronos. One way or the other. If you want to take the test you need to get undressed. Make up your mind what you want to do.” She sounded strict, but there was a vein of humour running through it. Firm but not harsh, insistent but not unyielding. She was giving him an easy way to change his mind if he wanted to, but she had pitched her tone perfectly. His hands floated up to his shirt buttons of their own accord, and he began to get undressed, his eyes flicking occasionally from Audrey to Duke, who was still watching from his perch on the stairs at the side of the room. He stripped shirt, t-shirt, shoes, socks, jeans and underwear from his skin feeling more and more </span>
  <em>
    <span>seen </span>
  </em>
  <span>every moment, until he was naked and he didn’t know what to do with his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Very good,” said Audrey sounding pleased. “Come and take your place at your desk,” she told him, pointing again with something that wasn’t actually a ruler he realised, but looked enough like one to take him right back to That Dream.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He went willingly, glad to have an instruction to follow, and took a seat at the temporary desk. The chair was the familiar one from the spare room, but moved out here and covered with a blanket it looked different. And as he put his hands on the desk to lower himself down onto it, sitting on it felt like something entirely new.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You arrived unprepared so let’s see if you can concentrate now,” Audrey announced. She paced the room as she spoke, first walking towards him, then away again. It gave him the opportunity to check out her outfit; the curve of her hips in the tight fitting skirt and the sway of her ass as she walked away from him. She taped the thing that wasn’t a ruler against her hand thoughtfully as she spoke, “A task of concentration to assess whether you are committed to your lesson.” She turned and walked away from him again and as she did, he heard Duke move behind him, and then Duke was right beside him, and slipping silently under the desk, hidden by the furniture before Audrey turned back around. Nathan pushed against the desk to lean back, and looked down to see Duke flash a fierce grin at him and then hold his finger up to his lips in the universal signal for ‘Be quiet’ or ‘Don’t tell’. In a flash, part of their original conversation came back to him; Duke imaging hiding under the desk to suck him off without ‘teacher’ noticing. Nathan leant forward again and composed his features (he hoped) into the same expression they’d held before, trying not to let it show how very aware he was of Duke shifting in the space under the desk that was only just big enough for him, moving around to kneel between Nathan’s legs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey stepped closer to him, apparently done with her pacing for now, and Duke stopped moving. “Your task will be to count backwards from one hundred in threes,” she told him. “I expect correct answers, and no hesitations.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded. “Right.” OK, he could do that, he thought. That was actually less challenging than some of the questions the dream woman had asked him, and at least it made sense. “One hundred,” he began easily. “Ninety seven, ninety four.” But then he felt Duke place a hand on the inside of his knee; the simple sensation of skin-against-skin a sudden shock that had been absent from the dreams and which right now, as Duke’s hand started to slowly run up his leg, threatened to short-circuit his brain completely. “ … um … ninety … er … one.” He curled his fingers against the desk in an effort to concentrate, feeling the solid surface beneath his palms. “Eighty eight.” The palm of Duke’s hand was high on the inside of Nathan’s thigh, and now Duke’s other hand was running up his other leg. He was already getting hard and he could feel Duke kneeling up, shifting steadily forwards. “Er … Eighty ... f-five.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey was standing next to the desk almost within touching distance, watching him carefully. Her close scrutiny and Duke’s ever-closer presence combined with this whole situation to leave him very aware of his breathing. “Eight four, I mean, er … two, eighty two.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Concentrate Mr Wuornos,” Audrey warned him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, um … seventy ... nine, seventy …” Duke leant forward then and sank his mouth down around Nathan’s erection. Nathan gasped and gripped the edge of the table even harder. His sitting position meant that even through his surprise he didn’t pull his hips away, and he couldn’t thrust forwards against Duke either. Duke for his part was barely moving at all, but it was still enough pleasure that his brain shut down and his mouth dried up, eyes fluttering closed of their own accord.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Too slow!” Audrey announced and he opened his eyes to see her bring the thing in her hand, the thing that had looked like a ruler and which Nathan now saw was a strip of leather, down hard against the back of his hand. He flinched against the sensation, a moment of sharp almost-pain, mixing together with the jolt of adrenaline it produced and Duke’s warm mouth softly around him to set every one of his nerve endings alight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the sharp flash of sensation faded, he adjusted his grip on the table and looked up at Audrey full of a helpless awe that she - that they - had managed to recreate his dream so closely from the little he had told them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey flashed him a quick grin, her usual expression breaking through the character for a moment. “Pick a colour,” she told him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Green,” he replied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smiled, and then she was instructing him again. “Let’s try that one more time. Seventy nine and then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“S-seventy six,” Nathan managed. He closed his eyes, gripped the table and curled his toes against the carpet, trying not to gasp when Duke moved his head. “Um … seventy three, seventy, … sixty seven …. Um …” Duke kept the movement of his head slow, but curled his fingers around Nathan’s hips, the additional movement an extra sensation for his brain to process that left very little room for it to do anything else. “... six-sixty … f…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The leather hit the back of his other hand, feeling a little different for being slightly more familiar, but sending just the same kind of jolt through him. He didn’t really know whether it was just a case of him seeking out sensations after having been denied any at all for so long, or if there was something about the physiology of the shock of it that woke him up, that jolt of adrenaline setting him alight, or if it were just Audrey herself, the thrill of her being in control, of trying to do what he was told and seeing if she deemed him worthy. But whatever the reason or the mechanism behind it, he could not deny it turned him on, in real life as it had in the dream. He gasped, slowly relaxed some of the tension in his fingers, and waited to see what would happen next.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Under the desk, Duke shifted, pulling off Nathan’s cock, and running his hands back down Nathan’s legs to his knees as he pulled away. Nathan almost sagged in his chair with the absence of sensation, but then Audrey was speaking to him again. “I can see I’m going to have to give you a different kind of lesson,” she told him. “Stand up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He blinked at her for a moment, heart running wild inside him and she encouraged him with a gesture. He pushed the chair backwards and slowly stood up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stand here,” she instructed him, pointing to a spot in front of her at the side of the desk. He did as he was told, and then came another instruction, “Put your hands on the desk Mr Wuornos.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Happily helpless in the face of her instruction he turned and leant forward, one hand and then the other, palms against the surface of the desk again. Duke moved out from under the desk slightly, leaning back against the chair to watch them. Nathan locked eyes with him for a long moment, feeling Duke appreciating the state Nathan was in; arousal and anticipation. He remembered how he had told them there was always a pause here in the dream, a moment where he wasn’t sure exactly what would happen or when. He looked down at the table, and felt the cool air on his cock where Duke’s warm mouth had been.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Twack! Without warning the smack of leather hit his ass. Just hard enough for him to feel it, just hard enough to send a jolt of sensation through him and leave the skin it had touched tingling, nerve endings screaming for more. That hadn’t been the same strip of leather that she had hit his hand with though; that had been something larger. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What …?” he began. “Was that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She reached her hand out to show him; a much larger paddle in black leather. “That was the padded side,” she told him. He was aware of Audrey and Duke looking at each other, but his eyes were fixed on the paddle. “I might try the other side too,” she suggested, emphasis on might.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The paddle moved back out of his eyeline and there was another wait before it hit again, the sensation the same as before, the sound of the strike a dull thud. He felt the vibration of the impact all through his ass and hips to his cock, making him even more aware of his body.  Another hit and his hips rocked forward, a poor echo of the thrusting movement he might have made, if he had anything to thrust into or against. A pause, a wait just long enough for him to wonder and then - Twack! The leather hit again and his hips jolted forward again, his cock bobbing uselessly in thin air with every movement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The leather hit again, and again. The strikes were always the same but the wait between them never was. He soon lost count of them, no idea in any case how many more were coming. He sucked in a gasp of surprise with every strike, let the air out a moment later with a shuddered half-moan. He closed his eyes and actively tried not to think, instead simply feeling the paddle and the way his body reacted. It wasn’t difficult to ignore thoughts in favour of sensation; there was nothing for him to think about as he simply stood in place and the sensations overwhelmed him. Even the rhythm of his breathing was set for him, as each strike of the paddle continued to prompt a sharp intake of breath. He did nothing but breathe. He felt nothing but the sensations of his own skin, and the way each hit vibrated through him, moved his hips and jolted his cock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then … the next strike didn’t come. The wait grew longer and longer and nothing happened. He shifted the weight in his hands, feeling the absence of sensation now almost as a solid thing in itself. The skin on his ass was warm and tingly, the blood pumped through every inch of him; a different kind of tingly, right down to his toes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good boy,” Audrey told him in her teacher voice. “Now, stay there and let that lesson sink in.” She put the paddle down on the desk next to his hand, her fingers brushing over his as she moved away, a brief touch of the real Audrey.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mr Crocker,” she said as she walked around to Nathan’s other side to where Duke was still lounging on the floor. “Do you really think you can sweet-talk your way out of detention and then sneak in to see what’s happening? Do you expect to get away with that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke grinned up at her, shrugged and pushed himself up to stand in front of her, attitude a mix of rebellious student and slick conman confident in the persuasive powers of his silver tongue. When he spoke his voice was low and smooth. “Perhaps I over-reached,” he acknowledged, gracious in defeat. “Is there any way I can make it up to you? Any task you need help with? Any itch you can’t scratch?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You think you can make it up to me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know I can.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey shook her head, apparently doubting his abilities. “You may try,” she announced. Duke put his hands on her hips and swivelled her through 90 degrees so that her ass was against the edge of the desk, right in front of Nathan. Duke put his hands flat on her thighs and pushed them upwards, bringing the fabric with him. As her skirt bunched up around her hips Audrey reached back and put her hands on the table, fingers of one brushing Nathan’s again as she did. Duke took hold of her hips and lifted her up onto the desk, pushed her skirt even higher and then sank back down to his knees.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan watched from his position leaning on the desk. He’d been told to stay put, and in any case he had no intention of turning away from this intoxicating view. Audrey was wearing nothing underneath her skirt. She wrapped her legs around Duke’s shoulders and he pressed his mouth between her legs, a murmur from his throat as Nathan saw him begin to move eagerly against her, hungry to please. Audrey bit her lip, eyes closed and head thrown back as her fingers curled against the desk just as his had done. She was trying to stay quiet too, perhaps trying to make sure Duke was working hard enough, making sure he earnt the moans he dragged out of her. He did though, of course. He knew how to use his tongue and he knew what Audrey liked and he held her hips tight in his hands as she screamed at the ceiling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke pulled away from her, wiped his mouth with his hand and shifted her back a little so she sat further on the desk. He stood up and grinned down at her, smug and self satisfied as he looked her up and down, “And did I succeed?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey breathed out a pleased little moan. “Passable,” she declared, the strict teacher veneer slipping a little.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do I get a reward?” Duke asked. His eyes flicked from Audrey to Nathan and Nathan felt his heart skip a beat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What reward would you like?” asked Audrey, as though considering the concept.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nathan," Duke replied firmly with no hesitation at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Very well," agreed Audrey airily, as though it were no real concern of hers what happened to her obstinate unteachable student.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke stepped around behind Nathan and leant forward to whisper in his ear. "All mine. Whatever shall I do with you?” Nathan shivered as Duke ran a hand over his shoulder blade. “With teacher so distracted I think I can get away with anything I want."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey lay back against the desk in front of him, skirt still pushed up around her hips, legs dangling over the side. He could smell her. She was close enough to touch, or would have been, if Nathan hadn’t been leaning on his hands. She lay back with her eyes closed, apparently happy to let her students get up to whatever they wanted. Nathan heard the pop of a tube of lube and then gasped and fliched at the sudden sensation of cold as a drop of it landed on the warm red skin of his ass. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duke reached down and smeared it in a line across his skin. Nathan hissed through his teeth and Duke leant forward to whisper to him again. “How do you think it’s going to feel when I fuck you?” he asked but Nathan only had a moment or two to think about that before he felt his feet being pushed a little further apart, and then Duke’s lube-slick fingers were pressing against him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan’s eyes flicked up to Audrey who had rolled onto her side now to watch them. He shared a look with her, seeing the difference in her expression as she left the action to Duke, seeing the satisfaction and pleasure in her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ready?” Duke asked after a moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded. “Yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Slowly Duke’s cock pushed against him and inside him, a steady inexorable movement that he relaxed into as Duke’s fingers around his hips held him still. Duke pushed their bodies together until there was no room between them and held there for a moment as Nathan felt Audrey’s gaze on him. And then Duke started to move, slowly at first then steadily faster. Faster and faster, each thrust becoming harder than the one before until he felt the slap of Duke’s skin hard against his as Duke’s cock hit that spot inside of him that set a whole different collection of nerves alight. He didn’t try to stay quiet now, he didn’t try to hide any of it. He let Duke hear what he was feeling and he let Audrey see it too. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before long he was close, so, so close but he thought Duke might be too and he didn’t want this to end too soon, wasn’t sure what would happen if he was still hard when Duke pulled out. And then, as though Audrey had read his mind she reached down towards his cock and all it took was one tug of her hand and he was shaking through his orgasm between them, Duke’s cries joining his own a moment later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nathan felt Duke’s final thrust inside him and then Duke was pulling out and dotting a kiss on his shoulder. Nathan heard Duke zipping his jeans back up, and then Duke reached to the side somewhere and produced Nathan’s bath robe that he wrapped around his shoulders and led him over to the sofa. Pulling the skirt back down her legs, Audrey joined them and they sat either side of him, pressing kisses to his shoulders and neck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You OK?” asked Audrey softly, nothing of the teacher left.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded, grinned at them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was worried it might be too much,” Audrey admitted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” Nathan told her earnestly. “No, it was … better than the dream.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“High praise indeed,” Duke commented.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You had it all planned out,” Nathan said happily, letting his head fall back against the sofa, bones like jelly. “All prepared.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“All for you,” Audrey told him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” he said quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey let’s not overstate things here,” Duke said. “Talking about how much fun we were going to have with you was not exactly a chore.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t need to thank us,” Audrey agreed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But I mean, you could. If you wanted to. Do all the work for us next time,” suggested Duke, half joking, half flirting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Next time,” mumbled Nathan in agreement. “Sleepy now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Audrey laughed. “Fair enough. For the record though, I’m glad you told us about your dream.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Nathan nodded. “So am I.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The inspiration for the toys:<br/><a href="https://www.lovehoney.co.uk/product.cfm?p=31781">https://www.lovehoney.co.uk/product.cfm?p=31781</a><br/><a href="https://www.lovehoney.co.uk/product.cfm?p=32383">https://www.lovehoney.co.uk/product.cfm?p=32383</a><br/><a href="https://www.lovehoney.co.uk/product.cfm?p=32966">https://www.lovehoney.co.uk/product.cfm?p=32966</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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